Above is a recent photo of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. Although Australians are heading into winter, this is not a blanket of snow on the ground. [Arachnophobes turn back now.] It is spider silk. All of it. The area is inundated by wolf spiders (slideshow here, video here) fleeing floods that have displaced thousands of residents living along the Murrumbidgee River. The spiders are not crawling to higher ground, they are "ballooning." To do this, they position themselves on raised legs with the abdomen pointed upward, a posture known as "tiptoeing." They release several silk threads into the air and let updrafts of wind carry them away. Distance traveled will depend on the air current. Spiderlings have been known to successfully parachute 16,000' (5km) high and 994mi (1600km) away, a journey of several weeks without food. So technically, these white leavings are not webs, which the wolf spiders are incapable of producing: “Wolf spiders would rather be hiding somewhere, trying to escape birds and other predators, but when land gets so flooded the spiders are forced to flee into trees and other high things. These spiders leave behind a dragline of silk, so the spiders at these places in Australia must be nervously running into each other, marching around in search of food. There is clearly a lot of spider activity, as evidenced by the massive amounts of silk,” explains University of California, Davis, entomologist Steve Heydon. A similar phenomenon happened in Pakistan last spring. The spiders will return to their natural underground habitats when the floodwaters recede, but the good news is that they are currently feasting on the mosquitoes and other insects whose populations have boomed due to the moisture.

Just went to lock up the front door, so grabbed the curtain to pull it back and felt something in my grip at first I though it was a bit of loose cotton then realised it felt more solid like twigs, then realised I grabbed the legs of a spider. It's body was about 2cm long, I think it was a house spider. Not sure who was more surprised as it dropped on the floor. I grabbed a glass and quickly invited the spider to leave via the kitchen window.

I don't mind spiders normally and am happy to remove them with a glass and a piece of card but I really don't want to be touching them. aarrrgghh!

Two nights ago, our weekly food shop was delivered. The driver chirpily pointed out that we seemed to have a rather gargantuan spider on our front step. Understatement! Moments later, Mr Totty had brushed it into a dustpan and propelled it to the far end of the garden. I half expected to hear it walking manacingly and purposefully back to our nice dry house. So far, no sign...

Haha Del that story was great. I didn't get the thong thing first off, but can see how the others thought it was hilarious. I've had huntsmans on my car windows quite a few times; they hold on well at 100km\hr. For those that don't have them in their country, they are quite big (can grow to easily cover the palm of your hand), and have an incredible knack (especially for their size) for squeezing under things. We have them at home quite often just lounging around on the walls.

Like other parts of the world, being Australian means getting used to spiders, unless you are my wife. I usually relocate most that I find, like house spiders, huntsmans and other innocuous species. But if its something that could hurt the girls I usually don't allow them the privilege. White tails, redbacks, funnel webs etc usually end up under my shoe. We even had a largish wolf spider walking the halls at work a few weeks ago. We had great fun catching it, scaring people with it and relocating it under the eaves.

MerlinPowered wrote:Haha Del that story was great. I didn't get the thong thing first off, but can see how the others thought it was hilarious. I've had huntsmans on my car windows quite a few times; they hold on well at 100km\hr. For those that don't have them in their country, they are quite big (can grow to easily cover the palm of your hand), and have an incredible knack (especially for their size) for squeezing under things. We have them at home quite often just lounging around on the walls.

Like other parts of the world, being Australian means getting used to spiders, unless you are my wife. I usually relocate most that I find, like house spiders, huntsmans and other innocuous species. But if its something that could hurt the girls I usually don't allow them the privilege. White tails, redbacks, funnel webs etc usually end up under my shoe. We even had a largish wolf spider walking the halls at work a few weeks ago. We had great fun catching it, scaring people with it and relocating it under the eaves.

I don't think I could take regular encounters like that!

“It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.”― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees: